Game operating device

ABSTRACT

A game operating device (controller) includes a longitudinal housing, and a holding portion held by hand to be wrapped by its palm it is formed in the housing. A direction switch is provided on an upper surface at a position where it can be operated by thumb of the hand holding the holding portion, and a start switch and a select switch are provided backward thereof. An X button  46  and a Y button are further arranged in line on the upper surface of the housing. An imaging information arithmetic unit is provided at a front end of the housing in a longitudinal direction in such a manner that an imaging device thereof is exposed from a front-end surface. A concave portion is formed on a lower surface at a position corresponding to the direction switch. The concave portion includes a valley and two inclined surfaces. An A button capable of being operated by index finger of the hand holding the holding portion is provided on the backward inclined surface. By processing an image signal obtained by imaging an infrared ray from LED modules by the imaging device, it is possible to obtain an operation signal varying according to a position and/or attitude of the controller.

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-239983 isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a game operating device. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to a game operating devicein which a housing is held by one hand and, in that state, operatingkeys and operating switches arranged on an upper surface and lowersurface of the housing are operated.

2. Description of the Related Arts

Conventionally, a typical controller used for playing a game is acontroller in which the main body of the controller is held by bothhands and the keys are operated with fingers of the both hands.

However, there is a problem with such a controller to be held by bothhands where the user's both hands are restrained during the operationand thus he/she cannot do anything else than the operation, resulting ininconvenience for him/her.

As a controller to address such a problem, there is a controllerdisclosed in the related art, Japanese Patent Laying-open No.2004-313492 [A63F 13/06].

The controller disclosed in the related art is a controller to be heldby both hands and can be divided into right and left parts as necessary.In the divided state, the user holds only one part and performs anoperation by means of only the keys arranged on the one part.

The controller described in the patent document 1 is a controller to beheld by both hands that is simply divided into two, and its keys arearranged under the assumption that the housing is supported by bothhands from the right and left sides. Thus, the controller is notsuitable for holding by one hand.

More specifically, the operating keys are arranged on the upper surfaceand side surfaces. The user operates the keys on the upper surface withthumbs and operates the keys on the side surfaces with index fingers andmiddle fingers, and needs to support the housing with ring fingers andlittle fingers against the pressure from the operating fingers. Thiscauses a problem that it is difficult to maintain the holding state withstability and a problem that it is hard to support the housing when nokey operation needs to be performed and a finger is moved off the key.

Moreover, as another problem, configuring the controller as to beoperated by one hand brings about a decrease in the number of the keys,which imposes a limitation to a degree of flexibility in performing aninput operation. In particular, these problems become more pronounced ina case of playing a game because the user is required to operate manybuttons on the controller for manipulating a game character andselecting a command.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide anovel game operating device.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a gameoperating device that can be operated even by one hand in a stablemanner.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a gameoperating device that can be operated by one hand and offers a highdegree of operation flexibility.

To solve the above mentioned issues, the present invention employs thestructure described below. Besides, the reference numerals,supplementary explanations, etc. in parentheses just show thecorrespondences with the embodiments described later, for helping theunderstanding of the present invention, and impose no limitations on thepresent invention.

The present invention of claim 1 is a game operating device comprising alongitudinal housing, a first operating portion provided on a firstplane of the housing along a longitudinal direction at one end in thelongitudinal direction, a second operating portion provided on a secondplane opposed to the first plane of the housing at a positioncorresponding to the first operating portion, and a holding portionformed in a direction of the other end along the longitudinal directionof the housing from the second operating portion.

In the present invention of claim 1, the first operating portion (26,42: reference numerals indicative of the portions corresponding to thosein the embodiment. The same applies to the following referencenumerals.) is provided at one end of the first plane (20) of thelongitudinal housing (12) in the longitudinal direction (C1), and thesecond operating portion (42, 28) is provided on the second plane (22)at the opposite side of the first plane. The housing (12) is of shapeand dimensions capable of being held by one hand of the game player, theholding portion (18) for holding the housing, i.e. the controller isformed at one end of the housing along the longitudinal direction fromthe second operating portion. With the holding portion held by the palmof one hand, the first operating portion and the second operatingportion can be operated by fingers of that hand.

According to the present invention of claim 1, while holding the holdingportion by the palm of one hand, the player can operate the firstoperating portion and the second operating portion by fingers of thathand, which means that the player can operate the game operating deviceonly by one hand. Accordingly, the other hand is free even during thegame, and the player can use the free hand for playing the game oranother purpose.

The present invention of claim 2 is a game operating device comprising alongitudinal housing having a thickness capable of being held by onehand, a first operating portion provided on a first plane of the housingalong a longitudinal direction, a second operating portion provided on asecond plane opposed to the first plane of the housing at a positionreached by an index finger of the one hand when a thumb of the one handis placed on the first operating portion, and a holding portion formedon the housing, wherein the holding portion is formed at a positionwhere can be held by palm and other fingers of the one hand, when thethumb is placed on the first operating portion and the index finger isplaced on the second operating portion.

In the present invention of claim 2, the first operating portion (26,42) is provided at one end of the first plane (20) of the longitudinalhousing (12) in the longitudinal direction (C1), and the secondoperating portion (42, 28) is provided on the second plane (22) at theopposite side of the first plane. The housing (12) is of shape anddimensions capable of being held by one hand of the game player, theholding portion (18) for holding the housing is formed on the housing.The holding portion is formed at a position where can be held by thepalm (62P) and the other fingers (62 c, 62 d, 62 e) of the one hand(62), when the thumb (62 a) is placed on the first operating portion andthe index finger (62 b) is placed on the second operating portion. Thatis, the game operating device can be operated only by one hand.Accordingly, the other hand is free even during the game, and the playercan use the free hand for playing the game or another purpose.

The present invention of claim 3 is a game operating device comprising alongitudinal housing, a holding portion formed at one part of thehousing in a longitudinal direction and capable of being held by palm ofone hand, a first operating portion provided on the housing, at aposition reached by thumb of the one hand when the holding portion isheld by the palm, and a second operating portion provided on thehousing, at a position reached by index finger of the one hand when theholding portion is held by the palm, wherein the first operating portionand the second operating portion are arranged at positions correspondingto each other on a first plane and a second plane opposite to the firstplane of the housing, respectively.

In the present invention of claim 3, the holding portion (18) of shapeand dimensions capable of being held by the game player's one hand isprovided at one part (rear end, for example) of the longitudinal housing(12) in the longitudinal direction (C1). The holding portion is wrappedand held by the palm (62P) of the one hand (62) and, at that time, thefirst operating portion (26) is provided at a position reached by thethumb (62 a) and the second operating portion (42) is provided at aposition reached by the index finger (62 b). Besides, the firstoperating portion and the second operating portion are provided on thefirst plane (20) and the second plane (22), respectively, at thepositions corresponding to each other. Accordingly, with the holdingportion held by the palm of the one hand, the first operating portionand the second operating portion can be operated by the thumb and indexfinger of that hand. That is, the game operating device can be operatedonly by one hand. Thus, the other hand is free even during the game, andthe player can use the free hand for playing the game or anotherpurpose. Moreover, the first operating portion and the second operatingportion are arranged on the first plane and the second plane of thehousing, with correspondence in position between the two, and therefore,the housing is supported by the index finger on the second plane inoperating the first operating portion on the first plane, and thehousing is supported by the thumb on the first plane in operating thesecond operating portion on the second plane, which make the operationsmore stable.

The present invention of claim 4 is a game operating device according toany one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first operating portion is adirection switch including a plurality of switch contacts arranged inshape of a polygon and a single key top or a plurality of key tops forturning on or off the switch contacts, and the second operating portionis at least one operating switch including a switch contact and a keytop for turning on or off the switch contact.

In the present invention of claim 4, the first operating portion (26) isa direction switch having the switch contacts for designatingindividually four directions of upward, downward, rightward andleftward, for example. The switch contacts of the direction switch arearranged in shape of a polygon. In addition, one or a plurality of keytops are provided. In the case of a single key top, one of the fourdirections can be selectively designated or specified by operating anoperating portion (26F, 26B, 26R, 26L) of the key top. In the case of aplurality of key tops, the corresponding key top may be operated.

The present invention of claim 5 is a game operating device according toclaim 4, wherein, in the first operating portion, the key top isprovided in such a manner that a pressing direction is perpendicular tothe first plane, and in the second operating portion, the key top isprovided in such a manner that a pressing direction is faced toward theholding portion and is not perpendicular to the first plane.

In the present invention of claim 5, when the key top (the operatingportion thereof) of the direction switch is operated, the pressingdirection is a direction perpendicular to the first plane (20) of thehousing (12). However, the pressing direction of the key top of thesecond operating portion is a direction not perpendicular to the firstplane. Nevertheless, in the case of operating the second operatingportion by the index finger, it is hard to press the second operatingportion in the direction perpendicular to the first plane. Thus, thesecond operating portion is pressed in the direction not perpendicularto the first plane. Consequently, the first operating portion and thesecond operating portion are arranged so as to be easy to operatedwithout impairment of operability.

The present invention of claim 6 is a game operating device according toclaim 2 or 3, wherein the second operating portion is at least oneoperating switch including a switch contact and a key top for turning onor off the switch contact, and the key top is pressed along a directionof the holding portion when the index finger is bent.

In the present invention of claim 6, the second operating portion offersfavorable operability because it can be naturally operated when theindex finger is bent.

The present invention of claim 7 is a game operating device according toany one of claims 1 to 6 further comprising a concave portion formed inthe housing, wherein the second operating portion is provided in theconcave portion.

In the present invention of claim 7, the concave portion (34) is formedin the second plane of the housing (12), for example, and the secondoperating portion is arranged in the concave portion. Accordingly, it ispossible to place the index finger in the concave portion, which makesit possible to operate the second operating portion in a quick andreliable manner.

The present invention of claim 8 is a game operating device according toclaim 7, wherein the concave portion includes a first inclined surfacewith inclination toward the holding portion and a second inclinedsurface with inclination toward an opposite side of the holding portion,and the second operating portion is provided on the first inclinedsurface of the concave portion.

In the present invention of claim 8, the concave portion (34) includesthe first inclined surface (38) extending in the direction of theholding portion (18) and the second inclined surface (40) in theopposite direction. As a consequence, the second operating portion canbe operated quickly and reliably just by bending the index finger in theconcave portion toward the holding portion.

The present invention of claim 9 is a game operating device according toclaim 8, wherein the concave portion is formed in such a manner that anangle of inclination of the second inclined surface toward the firstplane is smaller than an angle of inclination of the first inclinedsurface toward the first plane.

In the present invention of claim 9, the angle of inclination of thefirst inclined surface (38) is set so as to be smaller than the angle ofinclination of the second inclined surface (40). This brings about theadvantages that the housing is easy to hold by both hands and the indexfinger can be reliably taken off the second operating portion.

The present invention of claim 10 is a game operating device accordingto claim 7, wherein the concave portion includes at least a parallelsurface approximately parallel to the first plane and an inclinedsurface between the parallel surface and the holding portion, and thesecond operating portion is provided on the inclined surface.

In the present invention of claim 10, the concave portion (34) includesthe valley (36), for example, and the bottom of the valley forms a planeapproximately parallel to the first plane. Meanwhile, the holdingportion (18) is provided rearward of the housing. Accordingly, theinclined surface (38) is formed linking the bottom of the valley and theholding portion, and the second operating portion (26) is placed on theinclined surface. Thus, the second operating portion can be naturallyoperated when the index finger is bent.

The present invention of claim 11 is a game operating device accordingto any one of claims 1 to 10 further comprising a position and/orattitude determining means provided within the holding portion of thehousing, for determining at least one of position and attitude of thehousing, and an output means for outputting information on the positionand/or attitude determined by the position and/or attitude determiningmeans as an operating signal, together with an operating signal from atleast one of the first operating portion and the second operatingportion.

In the present invention of claim 11, the position and/or attitudedetermining means is provided within the holding portion (18) of thehousing (12). The information on the position and/or attitude determinedby the position and/or attitude determining means is output from theoutput means (66, 70, 72) together with an operating signal from atleast one of the first operating portion (26) and the second operatingportion (42). Thus, in the present invention of claim 11, the gamemachine can make the game progress by not only the operating signalsfrom the first operating portion and the second operating portion butalso the position and/or attitude information. Moreover, the positionand attitude of the housing can be changed by the movement of the wristof the hand holding the housing, which makes it possible to input theposition and/or attitude with stability, independent of any differenceamong individuals in the way to hold the housing.

The present invention of claim 12 is a game operating device accordingto claim 11, wherein the position and/or attitude determining meansincludes at least one of an acceleration sensor and a gyro-sensor.

In the present invention of claim 12, the position and/or attitudedetermining means includes at least one of a linear acceleration sensorand the gyro-sensor. In addition, using the acceleration sensor realizescost reduction.

The present invention of claim 13 is a game operating device accordingto claim 4, wherein the first operating portion further includes apressing switch including a switch contact and a key top for turning onor off the switch contact, which are separated from those of thedirection switch, and the pressing switch is provided on the first planeof the holding portion in vicinity of the direction switch.

In the present invention of claim 13, the operating switches of thesecond operating portion can be favorably operated even if the samefinger is used to operate the direction switch (26) and the pressingswitch (42).

The present invention of claim 14 is a game operating device accordingto claim 13, wherein the key top of the direction switch is provided ata higher position as compared with the key top of the pressing switch.

In the present invention of claim 14, the height of the direction switch(H1 of FIG. 27) exceeds the height of the pressing switch (H2 of FIG.27), which reduces the occurrence of a situation in which the pressingswitch is pressed by mistake at the operation of the direction switch.

According to the present invention, it is easy to operate the firstoperating portion and the second operating portion while holding thecontroller by one hand, which makes it possible to obtain a novel gameoperating device with a high degree of flexibility that is capable ofbeing operated only by one hand. In addition, the game operating deviceof the present invention can be operated with stability by one hand,which allows the user to use the other hand for playing a game or forother purposes.

The above described objects and other objects, features, aspects andadvantages of the present invention will become more apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the present invention when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a controller (first controller)forming one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(A) presentsa front side, upper side and left side, and FIG. 1(B) shows an upperside, rear side and right side.

FIG. 2 is a drawing of a hexahedron indicative of the first controllerof this embodiment, excluding a view of a left side, and FIG. 2(A) showsa front side, FIG. 2 (B) a plane side, FIG. 2(C) a right side, FIG. 2(D)a bottom side, and FIG. 2(E) a rear side, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the first controller of the embodiment held byone hand.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the first controller of the embodiment held byone hand.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative view showing the state of FIG. 3 in which anindex finger is taken off an A button.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the first controller shown in FIG. 1 andFIG. 2 from which an upper housing is removed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the first controller shown in FIG. 1 andFIG. 2 from which a lower housing is removed.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing electrical circuit structure of thisembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a situation in which a game is played bymeans of an imaging information arithmetic unit with the use of thefirst controller of this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative view of a situation in which an imaging rangeof the imaging information arithmetic unit covers the longitudinaldirection of the holding portion in alignment with the same.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative view showing a situation in which, because ofa relationship between an imaging range (viewing angle) of the imagingdevice of the first controller and a half-value angle of light intensityof LED module, two LED modules exist concurrently within the viewingangle of the imaging device.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative view showing a situation in which, because ofa relationship between an imaging range (viewing angle) of the imagingdevice of the first controller and a half-value angle of light amount ofLED module, only one LED module exists within the viewing angle of theimaging device.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a controller (second controller)constituting another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a combination of the secondcontroller of this embodiment and the first controller of the precedingembodiment.

FIG. 15 is a right side view showing the combination of the secondcontroller of this embodiment and the first controller of the precedingembodiment.

FIG. 16 is an illustrative view showing the case of performing anoperation with the combination of the first controller and the secondcontroller.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing electric circuit structure with thecombination of the first controller and the second controller.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a combination of another secondcontroller constituting another embodiment of the present invention andthe first controller.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a combination of still anothersecond controller constituting still another embodiment of the presentinvention and the first controller.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing a combination of further anothersecond controller constituting further another embodiment of the presentinvention and the first controller.

FIG. 21 is an illustrative view showing a gun-type adapter constitutingyet another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is an illustrative view of the adapter of FIG. 20 embodiment towhich the first controller is attached.

FIG. 23 is an illustrative view showing another embodiment of the firstcontroller, and FIG. 23(A) shows a layout of operating switches, inparticular, on an upper surface thereof, and FIG. 23(B) denotes a rightside thereof.

FIG. 24 is an illustrative view showing the imaging device of the firstcontroller of FIG. 23 that is correctly faced toward a screen of adisplay.

FIG. 25 is an illustrative view showing still another embodiment of thefirst controller.

FIG. 26 presents further another embodiment of the first controller, andFIG. 26(A) is a perspective view showing a rear side, upper side andleft side, and FIG. 26 (B) is a perspective view showing a bottom side,front side, plane side and right side.

FIG. 27 is a drawing of a hexahedron excluding a view of a left side,and FIG. 2(A) shows a front side, FIG. 2(B) a plane side, FIG. 2(C) aright side, FIG. 2(D) a bottom side, and FIG. 2(E) a rear side,respectively.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing the first controller shown in FIG.26 and FIG. 27 from which the upper housing is removed.

FIG. 29 is a side view of the first controller of this embodiment heldby one hand.

FIG. 30 is a front view of the first controller of this embodiment heldby one hand.

FIG. 31 is an illustrative view showing the state of FIG. 29 in whichthe index finger is taken off the B button.

FIG. 32 is a top view of the first controller of this embodiment that isheld and operated by both hands.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFFERED EMBODIMENTS

A controller 10 of one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.1 and FIG. 2 includes a longitudinal housing 12 molded of plastic ormetal, for example. The housing 12 has a required depth and includes alower housing 14 having a shape of a flat rectangle with a top-surfaceopening and an bottom, an upper housing 16 assembled integrally with thelower housing 14 in such a manner as to close up the top-surface openingof the lower housing 14, and in particular, has a cross-sectionrectangle on the whole as shown in FIG. 2(A) and FIG. 2(E).

The housing 12 has a holding portion 18 and is of size capable of beingheld by one hand of an adult or child on the whole. Its length L (FIG.2(D)) in a longitudinal direction (a direction along a center line C1shown in FIG. 2(B)) is set at 8 to 15 cm, for example, and its width(orthogonal to the longitudinal direction C1) W (FIG. 2(D)) is set at 2to 4 cm, for example, respectively.

Alternatively, the shape of the housing 12 is not limited to alongitudinal shape with a plane rectangle and may be a longitudinalshape with a plane oval or the like. Likewise, its cross-section shapeis not limited to a rectangle and may be a circle or other polygons.

A flat main surface of the upper housing 16 constitutes an upper surface20 of the housing 12. As can be seen well from FIG. 1(A) and FIG. 2(B)in particular, the upper surface 20 of the housing 12 is a rectangleextending along the longitudinal direction of the housing 12. Also, theupper surface 20 is equivalent to a first plane, and a surface or mainsurface 22 of the lower housing 18 is equivalent to a second planeopposed to the first plane 20. The second plane 22 is approximatelyparallel with the first plane 20. Besides, an upward direction isassumed to be forward (side of one end) and a downward direction isassumed to be backward (side of the other end) in the longitudinaldirection C1 of the housing 12.

A power switch 24 is provided on the upper surface 20 of the housing 12,on the slightly right side of the center in a width direction of theupper surface 20 (indicated by the center line C1 in FIG. 2(B)) in thevicinity of the housing front end (one end). The power switch 24 isintended to turn on or off an electric power source to a game machine112 (FIG. 9) by a remote operation.

Besides, in this embodiment, a power switch for turning on or off thecontroller 10 itself is not provided. The controller 10 is turned on byoperating any one of the operating switches of the controller 10, and isautomatically turned off if no operation is performed for apredetermined period of time or more.

A direction switch 26 is provided on the width-direction center line C1of the upper surface 20, forward of the longitudinal-direction center ofthe housing 12 (indicated by a center line C2 in FIG. 2(B)). Thedirection switch 26 is a combined switch of four-direction push switchesand center switch, and includes operating portions 26F, 26B, 26R and 26Lfor four directions indicated by arrows, forward (or up), backward (ordown), right and left, and also includes a center switch 28. Theoperating portions 26F, 26B, 26R and 26L are arranged on a single keytop, in a shape of a ring with a turn of 90 degrees among them. Byoperating any one of them, one of contacts (not shown) which arearranged in a shape of a polygon corresponding individually to theseoperating portions 26F, 26B, 26R and 26L is selectively turned on,thereby selecting any one of the directions of upward, downward, rightand left. For example, by operating any one of the operating portions26F, 26B, 26R and 26L, one of those contacts is turned on to make itpossible to designate a movement direction of a character or object(player character or player object) capable of being operated by a gameplayer or to designate a movement direction of a cursor.

The center switch 28 is a single push-button switch and may be used as aso-called B button. As is well known, the B button 28 can be used forchanging the game mode selected by means of a select switch 32 describedlater, canceling the action decided by means of an A button describedlater, and so on.

Besides, as is well known, such a combined switch as described inrelation to the embodiment is highly utilized for cellular telephonesand the like (seehttp://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou/s_sonota/hyoujun_gijutsu/small_switch/b-6-2.htm,for example), and thus a more detailed description of it is omitted.

As stated above, the direction switch 26 of the embodiment includes thecontacts (not shown) arranged in the shape of a polygon (rectangle orrhombus) as to indicate individual directions (the four directions inthe embodiment) so that these contacts are operated by means of theoperating portions 26F, 26B, 26R and 26L formed on a single key top.Alternatively, the operating portions 26F, 26B, 26R and 26L may beprovided as individual key tops so that one contact is operated by meansof each corresponding key top.

In addition, the direction switch 26 may be a cross key or ajoystick. Inthe case of the direction switch 26 as a joystick, an arbitrarydirection and position can be designated by turning its tip end 360degrees in an arbitrary direction or deflecting the same.

As can be seen well from FIG. 2(B), a start switch 30 and a selectswitch 32 having key tops arranged in a shape of the Japanese KATAKANAcharacter “

” with the width-direction center line C1 of the housing 12 between themare provided on the upper surface 20, backward of the direction switch26. The start switch 30 is used for starting (re-starting) and pausing agame and the like. The select switch 32 is used for selecting a gamemode, etc.

Additionally, the start switch 30 and the select switch 32 may beprovided in an arbitrary layout such as one transverse line and onevertical line, not limited to the shape of the Japanese KATAKANAcharacter “

” presented in relation to the embodiment.

A concave portion 34 is formed on the second plane 22 of the lowerhousing 14, at a position approximately corresponding to the position ofthe direction switch 26. The concave portion 34 is a concave formed soas to reach from one end of the other of the second plane 22 in a widthdirection, as can be understood from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 (C).Additionally, strictly speaking, the concave portion 34 of thisembodiment is formed slightly forward of the direction switch 26, as canbe seen from a contrast between FIG. 2(B) and FIG. 2(C). The concaveportion 34 is formed at a position where, when the player holds thecontroller 10, i.e., the holding portion 18 of the housing 12 by onehand as described later, the index finger of the same hand naturallyfalls. Therefore, a width of a valley 36 of the concave portion 34 (inthe longitudinal direction of the housing 12) is formed in a size thatallows the index finger to come into there. The concave portion 34 hastwo inclined surfaces 38 and 40 rising from the valley 36. The formerinclined surface 38 is formed with a rise from the valley 36 toward therear of the housing 12, and conversely, the latter inclined surface 40is rising from the valley 36 toward the front of the housing 12.

An A button 42 is provided on the inclined surface 38 on the rear sideof the concave portion 34 of the lower housing 14. The A button 42 isprovided at a position corresponding to the direction switch 26. Here,the corresponding position means a position where the direction switch26 and the A button 42 are arranged close to each other as viewedthrough from the upper surface of housing 12, and more preferably, thedirection switch 26 and the A button 42 are arranged in such a manner asto be at least partially overlapped. As can be seen well from theillustration, the bottom of the valley 36 is on a plane approximatelyparallel with the upper surface 20, i.e., the first plane of the housing12, and the rear inclined surface 38 on which the A button 42 isarranged is formed between the bottom parallel surface of the valley 36and the holding portion 18 formed on the rear (other) side of thehousing 12 described earlier. Also, the A button 42 is a push switchhaving a switch contact (not shown) and a key top for turning on or offthe switch contact, and the key top is provided so as to move in adirection perpendicular to the inclined surface 38. Therefore, asdescribed later, the player can turn on the A button 42 just by puttinghis/her index finger or middle finger in the concave portion 34 andpulling it toward him/her. That is, the index finger or the middlefinger can be positioned in the concave portion 34, which makes itpossible to operate the A button 42 quickly and reliably when needed.

Besides, the A button 42 allows a player character or a player object toperform an arbitrary action such as punching, throwing, capturing(obtaining), riding and jumping. For example, in an action game, the Abutton 42 makes it possible to designate jumping, punching andmanipulating a weapon, etc. Also, in a role-playing game (RPG) orsimulation RPG, the A button 42 makes it possible to designate theobtainment of an item, the selection and decision of a weapon and acommand, and so on.

In addition, the above stated holding portion 18 is formed on thehousing, backward of the concave portion 34, i.e., the A button 42. Asdescribed later, in using the controller 10, the controller 10, i.e.,the housing 12 is held in such a manner that the player's palm of onehand wraps the holding portion 18. At that time, the player can holdstably the holding portion 18 only by one hand because the controller10, i.e., the housing 12 is of a size or thickness capable of being heldby one hand.

Moreover, the key top of the A button 42 is turned on by pushing it inthe direction perpendicular to the inclined surface 38, that is, thedirection toward the holding portion 18. The inclined part 38 is notperpendicular to the upper surface of the housing 12, that is, the firstplane 20 and, in the end, the key top of the A button 42 is pushed in adirection not perpendicular to the upper surface 20. On the contrary,the B button 28 and the direction switch 26 are turned on by pushingthem in the direction perpendicular to the upper surface 20 of the upperhousing 16. These push directions mean directions in which the indexfinger and the thumb can apply pressure naturally in holding the holdingportion 18. This makes it possible to support a periphery of theoperating portion continuously by the thumb and the index finger duringthe operation while holding the holding portion 18, and perform theoperation in the stable holding state at any time.

Furthermore, an X button 44 and a Y button 46 are arranged on thewidth-direction center line C1 and backward of thelongitudinal-direction center C2 of the housing 12, in a straight linewith a spacing between the two. These X button 44 and Y button 46 areused to make adjustments to view point position and view point directionin displaying a three-dimension game image, that is, make adjustments toa position and a field angle of a virtual camera.

A battery cover 48 is detachably attached to the lower housing 14forming the holding portion 18, and a battery 78 shown in FIG. 7 isstored inside the battery cover 48. Thus, the controller 10 operateswith the battery 78 as a power source. In addition, the battery cover 48can be detached by removing an engagement pawl 50 from the lower housing14.

As stated above, the battery 78 as a relatively heavy matter is storedwithin a range of the holding portion 18 of the housing 12, and thus acenter of gravity G (FIG. 2(B)) is reliably contained within the rangeof the holding portion 18. This makes it possible to perform stably thedisplacement or movement of the controller 10 while holding the holdingportion 18.

An infrared imaging device 56 forming one part of an imaging informationarithmetic unit 54 described later in detail is arranged on a front-endsurface 52 (FIG. 1 and FIG. 2(A)) of the housing 12, and a 32-pin edgeconnector 60 is provided on a rear-end surface 58 (FIG. 1 and FIG. 2(E))of the housing 12, for example. The connector 58 is used to attach andconnect the controller of this embodiment (the first controller) 10 toanother second controller (described later), and so on.

The controller 10 structured in such a manner can be held by one hand ofthe game player (not shown). FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show a state in which theplayer holds the controller 10 by his/her hand. Referring to thesedrawings, a player's palm 62P and balls of middle finger 62 c, ringfinger 62 d and small finger 62 e of one hand 62 (right hand in thedrawings) hold the holding portion 18 of the housing 12 in such a manneras to wrap the holding portion 18 lightly. In the state, a thumb 62 a ofthe hand 62 is positioned on the direction switch 26 and an index finger62 b is positioned in the valley 36 of concave portion 34 of the lowerhousing 14. More specifically, the direction switch 26 is arranged at aposition reached by the thumb 62 a of the hand 62 holding the housing12, that is, at a position capable of being operated by the thumb 62 a.The A button 42 is arranged at a position reached by the index finger 62b of the hand 62 holding the housing 12, that is, at a position capableof being operated by the index finger 62 b. Accordingly, the player canoperate the direction switch 26 by the thumb 62 a and operate the Abutton 42 by the index finger 62 b while holding the housing 12 by thehand 62. More specifically, the index finger 62 b of the hand 62 ispositioned in such a manner as to make contact with a surface of thevalley 36 of the above stated concave portion 34 formed in the lowerhousing 14. By bending the index finger 62 b toward him/her (rightwardin FIG. 3) in that state, the user can push the key top of the A button42 by the ball of the index finger 62 b in a direction perpendicular tothe near-side inclined surface 38 of the concave portion 34.Consequently, the player can operate the A button 42 by the index finger62 b while holding the housing 12 by the hand 62.

Besides, the same applies if the holding hand 62 is a left hand.

In addition, the A button 42 is described above as being operated by theindex finger 62 b. Alternatively, by further providing an A2 button (notshown) of the same shape as the A button backward of the A button 42,the housing 12 may be held by the palm 62P and the balls of the ringfinger 62 d and small finger 62 e so that the A button 42 can beoperated by the index finger 62 b and the A2 button 32 by the middlefinger 62 c, respectively.

As stated above, the controller 10 of this embodiment, under the stateof being held by one hand, allows the first operating portion (thedirection switch 26 in the embodiment) and the second operating portion(the A button 42 in the embodiment) to be easily operated. That is, thecontroller 10 of this embodiment makes it possible to operate each ofthe operating portions with stability while holding the controller 10 byone hand. Therefore, the player can use the other hand for playing agame or for another purpose. Moreover, since it can be held only by onehand, the controller 10 can be handled more freely as compared with thecase of holding by the both hands. As a consequence, it is possible toperform smoothly the carrying, movement or displacement of thecontroller 10.

Additionally, in the controller 10 of this embodiment, the position ofthe first operating portion, for example, the direction switch 26provided on the upper surface 20 of the housing 12 and the position ofthe second operating portion, e.g., the A button 42 provided on thelower surface of the housing 12 correspond to each other on the upperand lower surfaces 20 and 22 of the housing 12 so that the housing 12can be caught by the thumb and the index finger (or middle finger)operating these portions, resulting in further stable operations. Forexample, when the direction switch 26 is operated by the thumb 62 a, thehousing 12 is supported from underneath by the index finger 62 b or themiddle finger 62 c positioned in the concave portion 34 for operatingthe A button 42, which makes it possible to push the direction switch 26by the thumb 62 ain a stable manner. Likewise, when the A button 42 isoperated by the index finger 62 b or the middle finger 62 c, the housing12 is supported from above by the thumb 62 afor operating the directionswitch 26, which make it possible to push the A button 42 by the indexfinger 62 b or the middle finger 62 c with stability.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the center of gravity G of thecontroller 10 falls a cross point of the width-direction center line C1and the longitudinal-direction center line C2 shown in FIG. 2(B) or avicinity thereto. The position of the center of gravity G is containedin a range of the holding portion 18, as can be seen well from FIG. 2.Therefore, when the controller 10 is held at the holding portion 18, theholding hand 62 (FIG. 6) supports the position of the center of gravityG, which allows the holding state to be maintained with greatly highstability. Thus, it is possible to perform further smoothly themovement, carrying or displacement of the controller 10 for the imaginginformation arithmetic unit.

FIG. 3 shows a state that the index finger 62 b presses the A button 42.When it is not necessary to press the A button 42, the index finger 62 bmay be moved off the A button 42 (the same applies to the middle finger62 c). That is, as shown in FIG. 5, by pushing the index finger 62 b (orthe middle finger 62 c) against the front-end inclined surface 40 of theconcave portion 34, it is possible to make the housing stable in thestate that the A button 42 is released from the index finger 62 b (themiddle finger 62 c). Consequently, it is not necessary to change thestate of holding the housing 12 (change a holding manner), depending onwhether to press the A button 42 or not.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 illustrate the state that the upper housing 16 isremoved from the controller 10 and the state that the lower housing 14is removed from the controller 10, respectively. As shown in FIG. 6indicating the removal of the upper housing 16, a substrate 64 isattached to an upper end of the lower housing 14 in such a manner as toseal the upper opening of the lower housing 14. The above describedpower switch 24, direction switch 26, start switch 30, select switch 32,X button 44 and Y button 46 are mounted on an upper main surface of thesubstrate 64, and they are connected to a processor 66 (FIG. 8)constituting a controller circuit by means of appropriate wiring (notshown).

Moreover, an acceleration sensor 68 and a wireless module 70 areassembled on the upper main surface of the substrate 64, between thedirection switch 26 and the X button 44, for example, between the startswitch 30 and the select switch 32.

The acceleration sensor 68 is preferably a three-axis linearaccelerometer that detects linear acceleration along each of an X axis,Y axis and Z axis. Alternatively, a two-axis linear accelerometer thatonly detects linear acceleration along each of an X axis and Y axis (orother pair of axes) may be used in another embodiment depending on thetype of control signals desired. As a non-limiting example, thethree-axis or two-axis linear accelerometer 68 may be of the typeavailable from Analog Devices, Inc. or STMicroelectronics N.V.Preferably, the acceleration sensor 68 is an electrostatic capacitanceor capacitance-coupling type that is based on silicon micro-machinedMEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology. However, any othersuitable accelerometer technology (e.g., piezoelectric type orpiezoresistance type) now existing or later developed may be used toprovide the three-axis or two-axis acceleration sensor 68.

As one skilled in the art understands, a linear accelerometer, such asacceleration sensor 68, is only capable of detecting acceleration alonga straight line corresponding to each axis of the acceleration sensor.In other words, the direct output of the acceleration sensor 68 islimited to signals indicative of linear acceleration (static or dynamic)along each of the two or three axes thereof. As a result, theacceleration sensor 68 cannot directly detect movement along anon-linear (e.g. arcuate) path, rotation, rotational movement, angulardisplacement, tilt, position, attitude or any other physicalcharacteristic.

However, through additional processing of the linear accelerationsignals output from the acceleration sensor 68, additional informationrelating to the housing 12 can be inferred or calculated, as one skilledin the art will readily understand from the description herein. Forexample, by detecting static linear acceleration (i.e., gravity), thelinear acceleration output of the acceleration sensor 68 can be used toinfer tilt of the object relative to the gravity vector by correlatingtilt angles with detected linear acceleration. In this way, theacceleration sensor 68 can be used in combination with the processor 66(or another processor) to determine tilt, attitude or position of thehousing 12. Similarly, various movements and/or positions of the housing12 can be calculated or inferred through processing of the linearacceleration signals generated by the acceleration sensor 68 when thehousing 12 containing the acceleration sensor 68 is subjected to dynamicaccelerations by, for example, the hand of a user. In anotherembodiment, the acceleration sensor 68 may include an embedded signalprocessor or other type of dedicated processor for performing anydesired processing of the acceleration signals output from theaccelerometers therein prior to outputting signals to processor 66. Forexample, the embedded or dedicated processor could be used to convertthe detected acceleration signal to a corresponding tilt angle when theacceleration sensor is intended to detect static acceleration (i.e.,gravity).

In this embodiment, the acceleration sensor 68 and processor 66 functionas a position and/or attitude determining means for determining theposition and/or attitude of the controller 10 held by the player withhis/her hand. By outputting information on the position and/or attitudethrough conversion of the acceleration signal output from theacceleration sensor 68, in addition to operation signals from thedirection switch 26, the A button 42, etc. and obtaining operationsignals for position or attitude at the game machine side, it ispossible to perform game operations with a high degree of flexibility.

As stated above, by arranging the acceleration sensor 68 within thehousing 12 so that the acceleration detected by acceleration sensor 68can be used to determine the attitude and position of the housing 12,i.e. the controller 10, the player can easily change the position andattitude of the controller 10 by moving (turning) the wrist of his/herhand while holding the holding portion 18 of the housing 12 by that handdescribed above with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5. Therefore, accordingto the controller 10 of this embodiment, it is possible to utilize notonly operation signals from the operating switches 24 to 32, 44 and 46of the controller 10 but also the position and attitude of thecontroller 10 as controller data, allowing further higher degrees ofoperations.

Moreover, the acceleration sensor 68 is provided within the housing 12of the holding portion 18, and in the course of nature, the thumb isplaced on the direction switch 26 and the index finger is placed on theA button 42, and the remaining fingers support the holding portion.Thus, no variations occur among individuals in the way to hold thecontroller 10, which makes it possible to perform high-precisiondetection without variations under predetermined criteria. That is, theabove mentioned turning operation of the wrist may result in adisplacement of a rotational axis due to its rotation. Also, sinceright-handed rotation and left-handed rotation are asymmetrical, thereis a possibility of causing an error. However, by providing theacceleration sensor 68 within the housing 12 of the holding portion 18as in this embodiment, the displacement of the rotation axis due to itsrotation is reduced with a decreased possibility of detection errors.

Additionally, in the embodiment, the acceleration sensor 68 is set upwithin a range of the holding portion 18 of the housing 12 (FIG. 1).This brings about an advantage that the position and/or attitudedetermining means can determine the position and/or the attitude withhigh accuracy. Besides, the position and/or attitude determining meansmay be arranged at another position within the housing 12 according tothe purpose. For example, as the position and/or attitude determiningmeans is moved backward of the housing 12, the amount of change inposition and/or attitude due to the displacement of the housing 12becomes smaller. On the contrary, as the means is moved forward of thehousing 12, the amount of change in position and/or attitude due to thedisplacement of the housing 12 becomes larger. Consequently, theposition and/or attitude determining means may be arranged at the mostappropriate position according to required performance.

In another exemplary embodiment, the acceleration sensor 68 may bereplaced with a gyro-sensor of any suitable technology incorporating,for example, a rotating or vibrating element. Exemplary MEMSgyro-sensors that may be used in this embodiment are available fromAnalog Devices, Inc. Unlike the linear acceleration sensor 68, agyro-sensor is capable of directly detecting rotation (or angular rate)around an axis defined by the gyroscopic element (or elements) therein.Thus, due to the fundamental differences between a gyro-sensor and anlinear acceleration sensor, corresponding changes need to be made to theprocessing operations that are performed on the output signals fromthese devices depending on which device is selected for a particularapplication. Due to the fact that the nature of gyroscopes is known toone skilled in the art, as well as the fundamental differences betweenlinear accelerometers and gyroscopes, further details are not providedherein so as not to obscure the remainder of the disclosure. Whilegyro-sensors provide certain advantages due to their ability to directlydetect rotational movement, linear acceleration sensors are generallymore cost effective when used in connection with the controllerapplications described herein.

An antenna pattern 72 is formed on the upper main surface of thesubstrate 64, and the controller 10 is provided as a wireless controllerby the means of the antenna pattern 72 and the above mentioned wirelessmodule 70. More specifically, the operation signals from the abovestated individual switches and buttons 24 to 32, 44 and 46, and thedetection data (detection signal) from the imaging informationarithmetic unit 54 and acceleration data (acceleration signal) from theacceleration sensor 68 are modulated in the wireless module 70 to weakradio wave signals, and the modulated weak radio wave signals areemitted from the antenna pattern 72. Accordingly, the game machine (notshown), by receiving the weak radio waves and performing demodulationand decoding on them, can obtain the operation signals from the abovestated individual switches and buttons 24 to 32, 44 and 46, and thedetection data from the imaging information arithmetic unit 54 and thedetected acceleration data from the acceleration sensor 68. Then, thegame machine makes the game progress, based on the signals, data andgame programs obtained in such a manner.

In addition, a crystal oscillator 74 provided on the upper main surfaceof the substrate 64 is intended to generate a basic clock of a computeror processor 66 (FIG. 8) contained in the controller 10.

As shown in FIG. 7 in which the lower housing 14 is removed, the imaginginformation arithmetic unit 54 is attached to an edge of the front endon the lower main surface of the substrate 64, and the connector 60 isattached to an edge of the rear end thereof. The imaging informationarithmetic unit 54 has the above mentioned infrared imaging device 56and an image processing circuit 76 for processing image data imaged bythe imaging device (imaging means) 56.

Additionally, the above described A button 42 is attached to the lowermain surface of the substrate 64 backward of the imaging informationarithmetic unit 54, and the aforesaid battery 78 is stored furtherbackward thereof. A vibrator 80 is attached to the lower main surface ofthe substrate 64, between the battery 78 and the connector 60. Thevibrator 80 may be a vibrating motor or solenoid, for example. Thevibrator 80 creates vibrations in the controller 10, and the vibrationsare transmitted to the player's hand 62 (FIG. 3) holding it, whichrealizes a vibration-ready game. Consequently, it is possible to providethe player with a vibratory stimulus.

Besides, as stated above, arranging the vibrator 80 on the opposite sideof the imaging information arithmetic unit 54 in the longitudinaldirection of the housing 12 would decrease the possibility that thevibrations from the vibrator 80 affect adversely imaging by the imaginginformation arithmetic unit 54. That is, a longest distance can besecured between the vibrator 80 and the imaging information arithmeticunit 54, which makes it possible to prevent the imaging element of theimaging information arithmetic unit 54 from being blurred as much aspossible.

Besides, in changing the direction of imaging with the imaging means orimaging device 56, the player may hold the holding portion 18 of thehousing 12 by one hand and move the wrist of the hand in that state, asalready described with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5. At that time, theimaging means 56 is provided at the front end of the housing 12, thethumb is placed on the direction switch 26 and the index finger isplaced on the A button 42 in the course of nature, and the remainingfingers support the holding portion. This makes it possible to performan imaging operation under predetermined uniform criteria, independentof variations among individuals in the way to hold the controller 10.

Here, referring to FIG. 8, a description is given as to electric circuitstructure of the controller 10 of the embodiment.

The imaging information arithmetic unit 54 has the infrared imagingdevice 56 and the aforesaid image processing circuit 76 for processingimage data imaged by the imaging device 56. As illustrated, the imagingdevice 56 includes a solid imaging element 561 such as a CMOS sensor anda CCD. An infrared filter (a filter permeable to infrared rays only) 562and a lens 563 are arranged frontward of the imaging element 561.Accordingly, the imaging device 56 generates image data throughdetection of infrared rays alone. In addition, the image processingcircuit 76 processes the infrared image data obtained from the imagingdevice 56, senses a high-intensity portion, detects the portion'scenter-of-gravity position and area, and outputs the data on them. Thedata on the position and area of the high-intensity portion is inputfrom the image processing circuit 76 to the processor 66. Moreover, theoperation signals from the aforementioned switches and buttons 24 to 32,4 and 46 are input into the processor 66. In addition, the three-axis ortwo-axis acceleration data (acceleration signal) from the accelerationsensor 68 is also input into the processor 66.

Based on the operation signals from the operating switches 24 to 32, 44and 46, the processor 66 detects which one of the operating switches andoperating buttons is being operated from time to time. The operationdata is output as a sequence of controller data together with theacceleration data and the high-intensity portion data, and is input intothe wireless module 70. The wireless module 70 modulates a carrier waveof predetermined frequency with the controller data, and emits the weakradio wave signal from the antenna 72.

Besides, the signals and data input through the connector 60 provided atthe rear end of the controller 10 are also input into the processor 66,and processed by the processor 66 as with the aforementioned signals anddata, provided as controller data to the wireless module 70, and thenoutput as a weak radio wave signal from the controller 10 in the samemanner.

Additionally, the processor 66 may be independent from the wirelessmodule 70, and, in using a wireless module based on Bluetooth(registered trademark) standard, etc., it may be contained as amicrocomputer in the module.

In order to play a game using the controller 10 in a game system 100, aplayer 102 holds the controller 10 (the housing thereof) by one hand 62,as shown in FIG. 9. Then, the player 102 faces the imaging device 56(FIG. 8) of the aforementioned imaging information arithmetic unit 54 atthe front end of the controller 10 toward a screen 106 of a display 104.At that time, two LED modules 108A and 108B are set up in a vicinity ofthe screen 106 of the display 104. Each of the LED modules 108A and 108Boutputs infrared rays. Meanwhile, the infrared filter 562 (FIG. 8) isincorporated into the imaging information arithmetic unit 54 of thecontroller 10 held by the player, as described above.

The image processing circuit 76 (FIG. 8) of the imaging informationarithmetic unit 54 obtains information on the positions and areas of theLED modules 108A and 108B as high-intensity point information, byprocessing the taken image containing the infrared rays. Data on thepositions and magnitudes of the intensity points is transmitted from thecontroller 10 to a game machine 112 by radio (weak radio waves), andreceived by the game machine 112. When the player moves the controller10, i.e. the imaging information arithmetic unit 54, the data on theintensity point positions and magnitudes is changed. By taking advantageof this, the game machine 112 can obtain an operation signalcorresponding to the movement of the controller and make the gameprogress according to that.

In this manner, the imaging information arithmetic unit 54 can image amarker (an infrared light from the LED in the embodiment) and obtain anoperation signal according to a change in the position of the marker inthe taken image. This allows coordinate direct input and rotationalinput to the screen, unlike operations with the operating switches,operating keys or operating buttons which are manipulated with fingers.However, the principle of the imaging information arithmetic unit iswell known as described in Japanese Patent No. 3422383, and thus a moredetailed explanation on it is omitted here. Besides, motion trackingmeans an analysis of the movement of an object or camera (the controller10 here) with a specific mark or pattern as a target in the screen(image).

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the controller 10 illustrated in detailin FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, for example. As depicted in FIG. 10, the holdingportion 18 is set up near a one end of the longitudinal direction of thehousing 12 of the controller 10, that is, a one end of the directionalong the width-direction center line C1, and the imaging device 56 isinstalled at the other end of the housing 12, on the center line C1 andon the opposite side of the holding portion 18. Accordingly, as shown inFIG. 3, a straight line (the width-direction center line C1) passingthrough the palm 62P of the hand 62 holding the holding portion 18 is inalignment with the direction of designation by the imaging device 56,which brings about an advantage that it is easy to recognize thedirection in which the imaging device 56 is faced. More specifically,since the direction of imaging by the imaging device 56 (correspondingto a direction in which a viewing angle C described later is faced) isin parallel with the longitudinal direction of the housing 12, it ispossible to grasp the direction of designation by the imaging device 56through intuition while holding the housing 12. Here, the longitudinaldirection of the housing 12, in the case of a rectangular housing aswith the embodiment, is represented by the width-direction center lineC1, for example. In addition, when the thumb is placed in the center ofthe direction switch 26, for example, and the holding portion 18 is heldby the palm and the other fingers as shown in FIG. 29 described later,the direction of imaging by the imaging device 56 denotes a direction inwhich the thumb is faced.

Besides, the LED modules 108A and 108B shown in FIG. 9 and the imaginginformation arithmetic unit 54 of the controller 10 have viewing anglesA, B and C, respectively. In the embodiment, the viewing angles A and Bare equal to each other and they are 34° (half-value angle), forexample, and the viewing angle C is 41°, for example. Additionally, intracking operation, when the two LED modules 108A and 108B exist withinthe viewing angle C of the imaging device 56 as shown in FIG. 10, theimaging information arithmetic unit 54 detects the movements of theimaging information arithmetic unit 54, i.e. the controller 10, by usingthe information on the positions and magnitudes of high-intensity pointsfrom the two LED modules 108A and 108B.

However, when only one LED module 108A or 108B exists within the viewingangle C of the imaging device 56 as shown in FIG. 11, the imaginginformation arithmetic unit 54 detects the movement of the controller 10by using the information on the position and magnitude of high-intensitypoint from only one of the two LED modules 108A and 108B.

The above described controller 10 sufficiently carries out the functionsas a game operating device by itself. Furthermore, as in an embodimentdescribed below, it is possible to make the controller 10 cooperate withanother controller (or an adapter).

In the embodiment represented in FIG. 13 to FIG. 17, a second controller200 shown in FIG. 13 and the first controller 10 of the embodimentdescribed earlier are employed. More specifically, the second controller200 includes a transverse housing 202, unlike the longitudinal housing12 of the first controller 10. Left and right sides of the transversehousing 202 function as holding portions 204 and 206, respectively. Theholding portion 204 is wrapped and held by the palm of the left hand 63,and the holding portion 206 is wrapped and held by the palm of the righthand 62, as illustrated in FIG. 16. That is, the holding portion 204 isa left-hand holding portion and the holding portion 206 is a right-handholding portion. The same thing applies to a different embodiment ofFIG. 18 to FIG. 20. In addition, a surface of the holding portion 204and a surface of the holding portion 206 are located in the same plane,and form together an upper surface 203 of the housing 202 shown in FIG.14 and FIG. 15.

A receiving portion 208 is formed between the left-hand holding portion204 and right-hand holding portion 205 of the housing 202. The receivingportion 208 is a concave portion for accepting the housing 12 of thefirst controller 10. The receiving portion 208 has a shape with openedfront surface and upper surface, and its inner shape is similar to theouter shape of the housing 12 (FIG. 2(E)) in a direction orthogonal tothe longitudinal direction of the first controller 10, and is slightlylarger in dimensions than the same. More specifically, a width Wa of thereceiving portion 208 is equal to or slightly larger than the width W ofthe housing 12 of the first controller 10 shown in FIG. 2(D), and adepth D1 of the same is almost equal to the thickness T of the housing12 (FIG. 2(A) and (E)). However, a length D2 of depth of the same is setin correspondence with the length of the holding portion 18 of thehousing 12 of the first controller 10 clearly illustrated in FIG. 1, forexample. That is, the depth D2 of the receiving portion 208 is equal toor slightly longer than or slightly shorter than the length of theholding portion 18 of the first controller 10 (in the longitudinaldirection of the first controller).

Additionally, although not illustrated with precision, a connector 210to be connected with the connector 56 provided to the first controller10 is arranged in a back of the receiving portion 208. Since theconnector 56 of the first controller 10 is a male connector, theconnector 210 of the second controller 200 is a female connector.

A well-known analog joystick 212 and direction switch (digital joystick)214 are arranged on the upper surface of the left-hand holding portion204 of the housing 202 of the second controller 200. Also, an A button216 and B button 218 are provided on the upper surface of the right-handholding portion 206, and an X button 220 and Y button 222 are providedso as to surround the slightly larger A button 216. Moreover, a joystick224 is provided for changing a position, i.e. view point of a virtualcamera while a three-dimensional game image is displayed in the displayscreen 106 (FIG. 9). The functions and actions of the A button 216 and Bbutton 218 are the same as those of the A button 42 and B button 28 ofthe first controller 10. The X button 220 is used to change an angle ofgaze around an X axis of the virtual camera, for example, and the Ybutton 222 is used for changing an angle of gaze around the Y axis, forexample.

The housing 12 of the first controller 10 is inserted from its other end(rear end) thereof into the opening of the front surface of thereceiving portion 208 of the second controller 200. Then, the housing 12is pushed into until the connector 56 of the first controller 10 isconnected to the connector 210 of the receiving portion 208. By doingthat, the first controller 10 is combined with the second controller200, as shown in FIG. 14.

In the state of a combination of the first controller 10 and the secondcontroller 200, the holding portion 18 of the first controller 10 isalmost buried in the receiving portion 208, as can be seen well fromFIG. 14 and FIG. 15 in particular. This is because the depth of thereceiving portion 208 is set as to be equal to or slightly longer thanor slightly shorter than the length of the holding portion 18.Accordingly, the center of gravity of the first controller 10 issupported by the second controller 200, and thus the first controller 10can be stably supported by the second controller 200.

Moreover, the width of the receiving portion 208 is set as to be equalto or slightly longer than the width of the housing 12 of the firstcontroller 10, and the depth of the same is formed so as to be equal toor slightly longer than the thickness of the housing 12. Thus, when thefirst controller 10 is inserted into or attached to the receivingportion 208 of the second controller 200, no rattle occurs between thefirst controller 10 and the second controller 200. In addition, as canbe well understood from FIG. 15, the upper surface 20 of the housing 12of the first controller 10 is flush with the upper surface 203 of thehousing 202 of the second controller 200, and thus the first controller10 never protrudes from the surface of the second controller 200 orinterferes with the operation of the second controller 200.

When the first controller 10 and the second controller 200 are combinedto each other, the player holds the holding portions 204 and 206 of thehousing 202 of the second controller 200 by the left hand 63 and theright hand 62, respectively, as shown in FIG. 16. In that state, thereis no need for using all the operating switches and buttons of the firstcontroller 10 but a few of them. However, the wireless transmissionfunction of the firs controller 10 and the function of the imaginginformation arithmetic unit can be used as they are.

When the first and second controllers 10 and 200 are combined with eachother as shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, the electric circuit structure isas shown in FIG. 17. More specifically, in FIG. 17, the operatingswitches 212 to 224 are the operating switches and buttons of the secondcontroller 200, and operation signals from these operating switches 212to 224 are input from the connector 210 through the connector 56 intothe processor 66 of the first controller 10. Accordingly, the processor66 processes the operation signal from the second controller 200 in thesame manner as the operating signals from the first controller 10, andinputs them as controller data into the wireless module 70. Therefore,the operating signals from the individual switches and buttons 212 to 24of the second controller 200 can be wirelessly transmitted as controllerdata via weak radio waves from the wires module 70 through the antenna72. As a consequence, the combination of the first controller 10 andsecond controller 200 functions as a wireless controller.

In addition, the imaging information arithmetic unit 54 of the firstcontroller 10 is never affected by the combination of the firstcontroller 10 and the second controller 200. Thus, by displacing thehousing 202 of the second controller 200 held by both hands as shown inFIG. 16 from side to side or up and down, it is possible to play a gamewith the use of the function of the imaging information arithmetic unitof the first controller 10.

Besides, in the state where the first controller 10 and the secondcontroller 200 are combined with each other, the first operating portionis typically the aforesaid direction switch 26 of the first controller10, and the second operating portion is the A button 42 in the samesense. The third operating portion is the joystick 212 and the directionswitch 214 provided in the left-hand holding portion 204 of the secondcontroller 200. The fourth operating portion is the A button 216, etc.provided in the right-hand holding portion 206 of the second controller200. However, the correspondences of the third operating portion and thefourth operating portion may be exchanged. In either case, the thirdoperating portion and the fourth operating portion can be operated bythe thumb 63 a of the left hand 63 and the thumb 62 a of the right hand62, as shown in FIG. 16.

As described above, in the first controller 10, the first operatingportion (the direction switch 26) is arranged at a position that can beoperated by the thumb 62, and the second operating portion (the A button42) is arranged at a position that can be operated by the index finger62 b or the middle finger 62 c when the first controller 10 is held atthe holding portion 18. Thus, in the first controller 10, it is a littlehard to operate the X button 44 and the Y button 46 provided within arange of the holding portion 18. On the contrary, in the secondcontroller 200, the X button 220 and the Y button 222 are both providedin the right-hand holding portion 206 of the housing 202 and are easy tooperate by the thumb 62 a in the state that the holding portion 206 isheld by the right hand 62 (FIG. 16).

As stated above, it is possible to make the one-handed first controller10 easier to operate by one hand by arranging a minimum required numberof operating switches or keys therein. However, the aforementioned Xbutton 44 and Y button 46, for example, may need to be operated withconsiderable frequency depending on the kind of a game. In the firstcontroller 10, the X button 44 and the Y button 46 are not necessarilyeasy to operate because they are provided in the range of the holdingportion 18. That is, the player may be dissatisfied with the firstcontroller 10 alone due to difficulty of operating the X button 44 andthe Y button 46. In this case, by combining the second controller 200and the first controller 10, it is possible to prevent the player fromhaving such dissatisfaction because the X button 220 and the Y button222 of the second controller 200 are easy to operate.

In addition, the joystick 212 and the direction switch 214 are arrangedas direction designation means in the second controller 200 as well.Meanwhile, the joystick 212 and the direction switch 214 are provided inthe left-hand holding portion 204 of the housing 202 and easy to operateby the thumb 63 a in the state that the holding portion 204 is held bythe left hand 63 (FIG. 16). Accordingly, when the first and secondcontrollers 10 and 200 are combined with each other, the directiondesignation means also becomes easy to operate. Moreover, the directionswitch 26 is originally provided in the first controller 10 at aneasy-to-operate position, the direction designation means to be usedwith a relatively high frequency has easy operability in both the casesof the first controller 10 is used singly and in combination with thesecond controller 200.

Besides, in the embodiment of FIG. 13 to FIG. 17, the A button 216, theB button 218, the X button 220 and the Y button 222 are arranged in theright-hand holding portion 206 of the second controller 200.Alternatively, in the case of this embodiment, it is possible toeliminate the A button 216 and the B button 218 from the secondcontroller 200 so that only the X button 220 and the Y button 222 arearranged in the second controller 200.

That is, even when the first controller 10 and the second controller 200are combined with each other, the A button 42 and the B button 28(FIG. 1) can be operated without hindrance, and thus it is possible toeliminate some operating switch(es) and operating button(s) withduplicate functions from the second controller 200, resulting in costreduction. On the other hand, the X button 44 and the Y button 46 of thefirst controller 10 becomes hard in some degree to operate at the timeof the controller combination, and the functions of these buttons arecovered by the operating switches (buttons) separately provided in thesecond controller 200. This would eliminate the inconvenience ofoperation resulting from the controller combination.

An embodiment shown in FIG. 18 is the same as the embodiment shown inFIG. 13 to FIG. 17 except that the operating switches provided on uppersurface of the right-hand holding portion 206 of the housing 202 of thesecond controller 200 are slightly different from those of theembodiment shown in FIG. 13 to FIG. 16. A duplicate description isomitted below, with assignment of the same reference numerals to similaroperating switches or operating buttons. In the embodiment of FIG. 18,provided on the upper surface of the right-hand holding portion 206 ofthe housing 202 are the A button 216, the B button 218, the X button220, the Y button 222, a C button 226, and a D button 228. The A button216 and the B button 218 have the same functions as those of the Abutton 216 and the B button of the above described embodiment. The Xbutton 220, the Y button 222, the C button 226 and the D button 228realize the equivalent functions of the joystick 224 of the precedingembodiments.

Besides, in the embodiment of FIG. 18, the A button 216 and the B button218 may be eliminated from the right-hand holding portion 206 of thesecond controller 200 so that only the X button 220 and the Y button 222are arranged in the second controller 200, as in the case of theembodiment of FIG. 13 to FIG. 17. This makes it possible to achieve costreduction and prevent a decrease in operability at the time of thecontroller combination.

An embodiment of FIG. 19 is identical with the embodiment of FIG. 13 toFIG. 17 and the embodiment of FIG. 18 except for a point describedbelow. Specifically, in both the embodiment of FIG. 13 to FIG. 16 andthe embodiment of FIG. 18, the housing 202 has a sufficient width (inthe longitudinal direction of the first controller 10) and thus theholding portion 18 of the first controller 10 is almost buried in thehousing 202 of the second controller 200. On the contrary, in theembodiment of FIG. 19, the width of the housing 202 is slightly smalleras compared with the embodiment of FIG. 13 to FIG. 16 and the embodimentof FIG. 18, most part of the holding portion 18 of the first controller10 is exposed from the housing 202. Accordingly, this embodiment isslightly unstable as compared with the preceding embodiments. However,the upper surfaces 20 and 203 of the respective housings 12 and 202 ofthe first controller 10 and second controller 200 are flush with eachother as in the cases of the preceding embodiments.

Since the width of the housing 202 is slightly shorter, the joystick 212provided in the left-hand holding portion 204 of the housing 202 of FIG.18 embodiment is omitted and some changes are made to the switches ofthe right-hand holding portion 206 in this embodiment. In thisembodiment, only the A button 216, the B button 218, the X button 220and the Y button 222 are arranged in the right-hand holding portion 206.

Besides, in the embodiment of FIG. 19, the A button 216 and the B button218 of the right-hand holding portion 206 of the second controller 200may be eliminated so that only the X button 220 and the Y button 222 arearranged in the second controller 200, as in the case of the embodimentof FIG. 13 to FIG. 17. This makes it possible to achieve cost reductionand prevent a decrease in operability with the controller combination.

An embodiment of FIG. 20 is the same as the embodiment of FIG. 19 exceptfor a point described below. Specifically, as with the FIG. 19embodiment, the holding portion 18 of the first controller 10 protrudesor is exposed longer from the housing 202 of the second controller 200as compared with the embodiment of FIG. 13 to FIG. 16 and the embodimentof FIG. 18. Thus, also in this embodiment, only the A button 216 and theB button 218 are provided in the right-hand holding portion 206 of thehousing 202. Alternatively, these buttons 216 and 218 may function as Xbutton and Y button, not as A button and B button.

Shown in FIG. 21 is a gun-type adapter 300. The adapter 300 has a butt302 for holding by hand, as with general gun-type controllers. The butt302 is provided with a trigger 306 surrounded by a trigger guard 304. Agun barrel 308 extends from the butt 302 through a magazine. Besides,the gun barrel 308 can be detached by a connector 310 with respect tothe butt 302.

In addition, by pulling out the gun barrel 308 from the connector 310and inserting the connector 60 of the controller 10 into a connector310, the first controller 10 can be attached instead of the gun barrel308. In this case, it is possible to make the shooting game moreinteresting by allowing the trigger 306 to be used in place of the Abutton 42 of the controller 10.

In the first controller 10 of an embodiment shown in FIG. 23, theoperating switches and buttons 24 to 32, 44 and 46 are changed in shapeand layout as compared with the embodiment of FIG. 1. The directionswitch 26, in particular, employs not the combined switch of FIG. 1embodiment but a direction switch formed of a cross key frequently usedin game machines. The cross key, i.e. the direction switch 26 may beidentical with the direction switch 214 of the second controller 200.Also, in the first controller 10 of this embodiment, the start switch 30and the select switch 32 are arranged in a sideway line, not arranged inthe shape of the character “

” as with the preceding embodiments.

Moreover, a plurality of (four in this embodiment) light-emitting diodes(LEDs) 821, 822, 823 and 824 are provided at one end (front end) of theupper surface 20 of the controller 10 of this embodiment. Light from theLEDs 821 to 824 can be visually recognized from outside, but they areburied in the upper surface 20 of the housing 12 and thus do not appearto protrude in FIG. 23(B). Alternatively, it is absolutely acceptablethat they are arranged so as to appear to protrude. When the firstcontroller 10 transmits a radio wave signal as a controller signal(controller data), these LEDs 821 to 824 indicate the number of thecontroller because the LED corresponding to the controller number isturned on.

For example, when the game machine 112 shown in FIG. 9 is designed toaccept four controllers at a time, each of four game players uses thefirst controller 10. The selective lighting of the LEDs 821 to 824allows each of the users to ascertain which is his/her own controller,out of the first to fourth ones. When the LED 821 of his/her controller10 is turned on, for instance, the player can understand that thecontroller is assigned as first controller.

Additionally, in the embodiment of FIG. 23, the front-end surface 52 ofthe housing 10 is formed as an inclined surface, not a surfaceorthogonal to an axis along the longitudinal direction of the housing12, unlike the preceding embodiments. Also, the imaging device 56 of theimaging information arithmetic unit is attached to the inclinedfront-end surface, and thus a central axis in the imaging range of theimaging information arithmetic unit, i.e. the imaging device 56 crossesobliquely the axis along the longitudinal direction of the housing 12.Accordingly, the housing 12 can be inclined on the whole by holding thehousing 12 at the holding portion 18 and facing the inclined front-endsurface 52, i.e. the imaging device 56 straight toward the screen 106 ofthe display 104. Consequently, according to this embodiment, the playermay feel less tiredness on his/her hand in operating the controller 10in his/her chair, for example.

That is, in the preceding embodiments, the front-end surface of thehousing 12 is orthogonal to the axis along the longitudinal direction.Accordingly, in facing the imaging device 56 attached thereto straighttoward the screen 106, it is necessary to hold the controller 10 in sucha manner that the upper surface 20 of the housing 12 is faced upward andthat the axis is in a horizontal state. Also, in that state, the imagingdevice 56 needs to be brought to a place within the screen 106. In thatcase, the wrist of the hand holding the holding portion 18 may be undertoo much tension. On the contrary, in the embodiment of FIG. 23, theimaging device 56 can be faced straight toward the screen 106 even whileholding the housing 12 by the wrist at a natural angle or in a naturalstate. This makes it possible to reduce the tiredness on the player'swrist without causing excessive stress on it.

Based on the same idea, as with an embodiment shown in FIG. 25, a frontend 12H of the housing 12 of the controller 10 is separated from anotherpart and is attached to a front end of the other part by means of ashaft 84. By doing this, since the front end 12H can be folded in such amanner as indicated by dotted lines if required, an imaging surface ofthe imaging device 56 of the imaging information arithmetic unit isdisplaced according to that, as shown in FIG. 25. Thus, as with theembodiments shown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24, the effect of reducing wristtiredness can be expected. Besides, if this is not required for theembodiment of FIG. 25, the front end 12H may be in an upright state (astate indicated by solid lines in FIG. 25) according to the axis alongthe longitudinal direction.

FIG. 26 to FIG. 28 represents still another embodiment of the firstcontroller 10. The controller 10 of this embodiment is identical withthe controller of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 except forpoints described below. Duplicate descriptions are omitted below withassignment of the same reference numerals to the same or similarcomponents.

The controller 10 of this embodiment also includes the housing 12 of alongitudinal and cross rectangular shape or a shape close thereto thatis structured by the lower housing 14 and the upper housing 16. Also,the holding portion 18 of a size or thickness capable of being held byone hand is formed at the rear end of the housing 12. In addition, thedirection switch 26 is arranged on the upper surface 20 of the housing12, at the side (front end) opposite to the holding portion 18 in thelongitudinal direction C1 (FIG. 27). Besides, in this embodiment, thedirection switch 26 is a so-called cross key, not a combined switch suchas that of the FIG. 1 embodiment. Additionally, the A button 42 isprovided below (near the rear end) of the cross key, i.e. the directionswitch 26, at center of the housing 12 in a width direction. In thepreceding embodiments, the A button 42 is provided in the concaveportion 34 on the bottom surface 22 of the housing 12, and in thisembodiment, the A button 42 is changed so as to be arranged on the uppersurface 20 of the housing 12. This is intended to allow the A button 42to be operated by the thumb quickly and reliably because the A button 42is operated more frequently than the B button 28, as can be wellunderstood from FIG. 29 described later, for example. The directionswitch 26 and the A button 42 correspond to the first operating portionin this embodiment. Accordingly, the direction switch 26 and the Abutton 42 are a key top pushed in a direction orthogonal to the firstplane 20 and a push switch having contacts (not shown) operated by thekey top.

Moreover, in this embodiment, as understood well from FIG. 27(C)especially, a height H1 from the first plane 20 of the key top of thecross switch, i.e. the direction switch 26 is made higher as comparedwith a height H2 from the first plane 20 of the key top of the A button42. That is, the direction switch 26 is set to be higher than the Abutton 42. This aims to prevent the A button 42 from being pushed byaccident while the cross key, i.e. the direction switch 26 is operated.

The start switch 30 and the select switch 32 are arranged in onestraight line in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction(width direction), and also a menu switch 86 is provided between them.The menu switch 86 is used to select a menu item of a game to beexecuted by means of the controller 10 (for example, a one-person playmode, a match-up mode, etc.) and to switch the game mode instantly tothe menu to be provided immediately after the startup of the gamemachine or the like. The center of the menu switch 86 is aligned withthat of the A button 42 in the width direction of the housing 12, andthe start switch 30 and the select switch 32 are arranged at positionswith uniform spacing at left and right from the menu switch 86 (i.e. theA button 42).

With such a button layout as mentioned above, in manipulating thecontroller 10 with the right hand, for example, the player can operatethe select switch 32 quickly just by sliding the thumb placed on the Abutton 42 without having to bending the thumb. Additionally, in the caseof operation with the left hand, the start switch 30 is a switchsuitable for a quick operation in the same manner. Accordingly, it ispossible to perform a quick operation regardless of whether the user isright-handed or left-handed, by making a change to the assignments ofthe select switch 32 and the start switch 30 through the use of asoftware program or the like.

Besides, the menu switch 86 and the power switch 24 are provided in sucha manner as to be caved in or buried in holes formed on the uppersurface 20 of the housing 12 so that they are invisible from a side viewas shown in FIG. 27 (C). These switches 24 and 86 are caved because,although they may be operated only on specific occasions such as thetime of starting the game, operating these switches by accident duringthe game would cause some inconvenience such as data loss, and thusthese switches are designed to be capable of being intentionallyoperated at the game start but incapable of being unconsciously operatedduring the game.

Furthermore, in the controller 10 of this embodiment, the LEDs 821 to824 for indicating the controller numbers are provided as with thecontroller of FIG. 23. However, the LEDs 821 to 824 of FIG. 23embodiment are provided at one end (front end) of the housing 12,whereas those of this embodiment are arranged at the other end (rearend) of the housing 12.

The concave portion 34 is formed on the lower surface 22 of the housing,at a position approximately corresponding to the position of the abovementioned direction switch 26, on the side opposite to the holdingportion 18 in the longitudinal direction. In the preceding embodiments,the concave portion 34 has the valley 36 with a plane parallel to thefirst plane 20, and in this embodiment, the concave portion 34 has novalley and includes the first inclined surface 38 and the secondinclined part 40 that have gentle inclination. Also, the B button 28 isprovided on the first inclined surface 38 extending in the direction ofthe holding portion 18. In addition, the B button 28 is provided at aposition corresponding to the direction switch 26 and the A button 42forming the first operating portion. Besides, the corresponding positiondenotes a position where the B button 28 is arranged close to thedirection switch 26 and the A button 42 when viewed through the uppersurface of the housing 12.

Besides, the A button is arranged on the lower surface of the housing inthe preceding embodiments, whereas the A button 42 of this embodiment isarranged at a position easier to press as compared with the centerswitch of the preceding embodiments. Thus, this button is assumed to bethe frequently-used A button and the switch on the lower surface 22 ofthe housing is assumed to be the B button, which makes button operationsto be easier.

Additionally, in this embodiment, the B button 28 corresponds to thesecond operating portion. The B button 28 therefore has a key top to bepushed in a direction perpendicular to the inclined surface 38 butnon-perpendicular to the first plane 20, and a contact (not shown)turned on or off by the key top.

Moreover, in this embodiment, an angle of inclination of the secondinclined surface 40 extending toward the front end 52 of the housing 12,with respect to the first plane 20 is set as to be smaller than an angleof inclination of the first inclined surface 38 with respect to thefirst plane 20, as can be well understood from FIG. 26 and FIG. 27 (C).That is, the second inclined surface 40 has gentle inclination ascompared with the first inclined surface 38. In this manner, by makingthe second inclined surface 40 more gentle in inclination than the firstinclined surface 38, there are such advantages that it is easier to holdthe controller with both hands as shown in FIG. 32 described later andit is possible to take the index finger properly off the B button 28because the finger can be sufficiently moved in the direction of thetakeoff.

Furthermore, as can be understood from FIG. 28, because of a layout ofthe start switch 30, the menu switch 86 and the select switch 32arranged in one horizontal straight line, in this embodiment, thewireless module 70 is arranged on the right side of the housing 12 inthe width direction. Also, the power switch 24 is provided on the leftside of the housing 12 of the substrate 64 in the width direction, incontrast to the preceding embodiments, and the antenna pattern 72 isarranged at the front end on the right side of the substrate 64 in thewidth direction. As stated above, by arranging the antenna pattern 72 atthe front end on the right side of the housing 12 in the widthdirection, there is such an advantage that, even in the case of holdingwith both hands as shown in FIG. 32, the emission of weak radio wavesfrom the antenna 72 is not affected by the hands holding the housing 12,that is, the controller 10. That is, the antenna pattern 72 is arrangedon the side opposite to the hands holding the controller 10, in thewidth direction of the housing 12.

Besides, in the embodiment of FIG. 26 to FIG. 28, the switch provided inthe concave portion 34 on the lower surface of the housing 12 is the Bbutton 28. Alternatively, the B button 28 may be replaced with anoperating means having the functions of the Z button. In addition, the Zbutton is used as a trigger switch in a shooting game, for example, andalso operated on occasions when a non-player object is to be targeted bya player object (a so-called Z-targeting feature), etc.

FIG. 29 and FIG. 30 show the state that the controller 10 suchstructured as stated above is held by the game player's hand. Referringto these drawings, the palm 62P and the balls of middle finger 62 c,ring finger 62 d and small finger 62 e of the player's right hand 62hold the holding portion 18 of the housing 12 in such a manner as towrap the holding portion 18 lightly. In the state, the thumb 62 a of thehand 62 is positioned on the direction switch 26, and the index finger62 b is positioned in the concave portion 34 of the lower housing 14.Specifically, the direction switch 26 is arranged at a position reachedby the thumb 62 a of the hand 62 holding the housing 12, that is, at aposition capable of being operated by the thumb 62 a. The B button 28 isarranged at a position reached by the index finger 62 b of the hand 62holding the housing 12, that is, at a position capable of being operatedby the index finger 62 b. Accordingly, the player can operate thedirection switch 26 by the thumb 62 a and operate the B button 28 by theindex finger 62 b while holding the housing 12 by the hand 62. Morespecifically, the index finger 62 b of the hand 62 is positioned in sucha manner as to make contact with the surface of the second inclinedsurface 40 having gentle inclination in the front-end direction of theabove stated concave portion 34 formed in the lower housing 14. Bybending the index finger 62 b toward him/her (rightward in FIG. 29) inthat state, the user can push the key top of the B button 28 by the ballof the index finger 62 b in a direction perpendicular to the near-sideinclined surface 38 of the concave portion 34.

Additionally, in the case of this embodiment, the A button 42 is to beoperated by the thumb 62 a of the one hand 62 as with the directionswitch 26, as can be seen well from FIG. 29 in particular. That is, inthis embodiment, the direction switch 26 is operated by extending thethumb 62 a and the A button 42 is operated by bending the thumb 62 a. Asa consequence, both the direction switch 26 and the A button 42 areoperated by the thumb 62 a. Thus, the thumb 62 a may also be placed inan operation-waiting state (rest state) on the A button 42, not on thedirection switch 26.

FIG. 29 shows a state that the B button (or the Z button) 28 is pushedby the index finger 62 b. When it is not required to push the B button28, the index finger 62 b (or the middle finger 62 c) may be taken offthe B button 28. More specifically, by placing the index finger 62 b (orthe middle finger 62 c) on the second inclined surface 40 of the concaveportion 34, it is possible to make the index finger 62 b (the middlefinger 62 c) stable in the state of being separated from the B button28. Thus, there is no need for changing the state of holding the housing12 (passing the housing 12 from one hand to the other) depending onwhether or not to push the B button (or Z button) 28.

As described above, the controller 10 of this embodiment makes it easyto operate the first operating portion (the direction switch 26 and theA button 42 in the embodiment) and the second operating portion (the Abutton 42 in the embodiment) while holding the controller 10 by onehand. That is, in the controller 10 of this embodiment, it is possibleto operate the individual operating portions in a stable manner whileholding the controller 10 by one hand, which brings about a highlyfavorable effect of allowing the other hand to be used for playing agame or for another purpose, and which also makes it possible to performoperations in a state of holding by both hands. FIG. 32 shows the stateof holding by both hands. Additionally, in this embodiment, the A button42 is arranged at a place on the holding portion in vicinity of thedirection switch 26. Moreover, the B button 28 is arranged at the backof the area in which the direction switch 26 and the A button 42 arearranged (in other words, slightly rearward of the immediate back of thedirection switch 26), which makes it easy to operate the A button 42 andthe B button by one hand in a stable manner. Furthermore, as statedabove, since the direction switch 26 is in a higher position than the Abutton 42, it is possible to make the A button hard to press by mistake.

In the case of holding by both hands, as shown in FIG. 32, the front endof the housing 12 is held by the left hand 63, and the rear end of thehousing 12 is held by the right hand 62. At that time, with commonalitybetween the right hand and the left hand, the controller 10, i.e. thehousing 12 is held in such a manner that the upper surface 20 (FIG. 27)is retained by the balls of the thumbs 62 a and 63 a and the bottomsurface 22 (FIG. 27) is supported by the sides of the index fingers 62 band 63 b. Accordingly, the direction switch 26 and the A button 42 areoperated by the ball of the thumb 63 a of the left hand 63, and the Bbutton 28 (FIG. 26 and FIG. 27) is operated by the tip of the indexfinger 63 b of the left hand. Also, the X button 44 and the Y button 46are operated by the thumb 62 a of the right hand 62.

However, in the case of holding by both hands, the manner in which thecontroller is held, and the hands and fingers to operate the individualoperating switches and operating buttons are not limited to the exampleof FIG. 32. Thus, for example, it is possible to operate the A button 42by reaching out the thumb 62 a of the right hand 62 or the like.Besides, holding in such a manner as shown in FIG. 32 would preventradio emission through the antenna 72 (FIG. 28) from being affected bythe holding hand.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated indetail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustrationand example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spiritand scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms ofthe appended claims.

1. A game operating device, comprising: a longitudinal housing; a firstoperating portion provided on a first plane of said housing along alongitudinal direction at one end in the longitudinal direction; asecond operating portion provided on a second plane opposed to saidfirst plane of said housing at a position corresponding to said firstoperating portion; and a holding portion formed in a direction of theother end along said longitudinal direction of said housing from saidsecond operating portion.
 2. A game operating device, comprising: alongitudinal housing having a thickness capable of being held by onehand; a first operating portion provided on a first plane of saidhousing along a longitudinal direction; a second operating portionprovided on a second plane opposed to said first plane of said housingat a position reached by an index finger of said one hand when a thumbof said one hand is placed on said first operating portion; and aholding portion formed on said housing, wherein said holding portion isformed at a position where can be held by a palm and other fingers ofsaid one hand, when the thumb is placed on said first operating portionand the index finger is placed on said second operating portion.
 3. Agame operating device, comprising: a longitudinal housing; a holdingportion formed at one part of said housing in a longitudinal directionand capable of being held by a palm of one hand; a first operatingportion provided on said housing at a position reached by a thumb ofsaid one hand when said holding portion is held by said palm; and asecond operating portion provided on said housing at a position reachedby an index finger of said one hand when said holding portion is held bysaid palm, wherein said first operating portion and said secondoperating portion are arranged at positions corresponding to each otheron a first plane and a second plane opposite to the first plane of saidhousing, respectively.
 4. A game operating device according to claim 1,wherein said first operating portion is a direction switch including aplurality of switch contacts arranged in shape of a polygon and a singlekey top or a plurality of key tops for turning on or off the switchcontacts, and said second operating portion is at least one operatingswitch including a switch contact and a key top for turning on or offthe switch contact.
 5. A game operating device according to claim 4,wherein in said first operating portion, the key top is provided in sucha manner that a pressing direction is perpendicular to said first plane,and in said second operating portion, the key top is provided in such amanner that a pressing direction is faced toward said holding portionand is not perpendicular to said first plane.
 6. A game operating deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein said second operating portion is at leastone operating switch including a switch contact and a key top forturning on or off the switch contact, and said key top is pressed alonga direction of said holding portion when said index finger is bent.
 7. Agame operating device according to claim 1, further comprising a concaveportion formed in said housing, wherein said second operating portion isprovided in said concave portion.
 8. A game operating device accordingto claim 7, wherein said concave portion includes a first inclinedsurface with inclination toward said holding portion and a secondinclined surface with inclination toward an opposite side of saidholding portion, and said second operating portion is provided on saidfirst inclined surface of said concave portion.
 9. A game operatingdevice according to claim 8, wherein said concave portion is formed insuch a manner that an angle of inclination of said second inclinedsurface toward said first plane is smaller than an angle of inclinationof said first inclined surface toward said first plane.
 10. A gameoperating device according to claim 7, wherein said concave portionincludes at least a parallel surface approximately parallel to saidfirst plane and an inclined surface between said parallel surface andsaid holding portion, and said second operating portion is provided onsaid inclined surface.
 11. A game operating device according to claim 1,further comprising: a position and/or attitude determining meansprovided within said holding portion of said housing, for determining atleast one of position and attitude of said housing; and an output meansfor outputting information on the position and/or attitude determined bysaid position and/or attitude determining means as an operating signal,together with an operation signal from at least one of said firstoperating portion and said second operating portion.
 12. A gameoperating device according to claim 11, wherein said position and/orattitude determining means includes at least one of an accelerationsensor and a gyro-sensor.
 13. A game operating device according to claim4, wherein said first operating portion further includes a pressingswitch including a switch contact and a key top for turning on or offthe switch contact, which are separated from those of said directionswitch, and said pressing switch is provided on said first plane of theholding portion in vicinity of said direction switch.
 14. A gameoperating device according to claim 13, wherein the key top of saiddirection switch is provided at a higher position as compared with thekey top of said pressing switch.
 15. A game operating device accordingto claim 2, wherein said first operating portion is a direction switchincluding a plurality of switch contacts arranged in shape of a polygonand a single key top or a plurality of key tops for turning on or offthe switch contacts, and said second operating portion is at least oneoperating switch including a switch contact and a key top for turning onor off the switch contact.
 16. A game operating device according toclaim 3, wherein said first operating portion is a direction switchincluding a plurality of switch contacts arranged in shape of a polygonand a single key top or a plurality of key tops for turning on or offthe switch contacts, and said second operating portion is at least oneoperating switch including a switch contact and a key top for turning onor off the switch contact.
 17. A game operating device according toclaim 3, wherein said second operating portion is at least one operatingswitch including a switch contact and a key top for turning on or offthe switch contact, and said key top is pressed along a direction ofsaid holding portion when said index finger is bent.
 18. A gameoperating device according to claim 2, further comprising a concaveportion formed in said housing, wherein said second operating portion isprovided in said concave portion.
 19. A game operating device accordingto claim 3, further comprising a concave portion formed in said housing,wherein said second operating portion is provided in said concaveportion.
 20. A game operating device according to claim 2, furthercomprising: a position and/or attitude determining means provided withinsaid holding portion of said housing, for determining at least one ofposition and attitude of said housing; and an output means foroutputting information on the position and/or attitude determined bysaid position and/or attitude determining means as an operating signal,together with an operation signal from at least one of said firstoperating portion and said second operating portion.
 21. A gameoperating device according to claim 3, further comprising: a positionand/or attitude determining means provided within said holding portionof said housing, for determining at least one of position and attitudeof said housing; and an output means for outputting information on theposition and/or attitude determined by said position and/or attitudedetermining means as an operating signal, together with an operationsignal from at least one of said first operating portion and said secondoperating portion.